ZIP Codes Can Figure Out the Puzzle of Customers

November 7, 2016

Many people are curious about the functionality of ZIP codes. They wonder how a simple five-digit code can represent a significant amount of vital information about a particular person. Despite the high effectiveness they offer, some people still wonder if a ZIP code can adequately describe two or more individuals. Quite often, novice marketers who intend to deliver products based on ZIP codes initiate this particular argument.

The truth is, however, that commercial enterprises continuously collect vital information about individual customers to determine their purchasing habits and their lifestyle. As per the result of this widely expanded data mining process, potential customers are revealed within a market. When combined with the information like dates of birth and gender of customers, ZIP codes are powerful enough to identify almost 90% of the people in the USA. For instance, a company needs to know only the date of birth, gender, and a ZIP code to successfully identify an individual buyer persona who lives in a certain area.

However, when it comes to highly populated areas (especially when the density of college students is high), the above mentioned three pieces of information will not be enough to distinguish a particular buyer persona. It is not an impossible task because the application of more data filters together with the ZIP codes will ensure finding the desired individual. Also, a birth date, gender and the area where a customer lives are already pretty unique. Even in a highly dense area, finding two persons that match genders and exact birth date can be pretty difficult.

At GeoMetrx, we are able to implement specific strategies to identify certain individuals with unique purchase needs. Our software is capable of extracting behaviors of the customers and combining such information with the ZIP code to facilitate fast, easy, and accurate tracking.

This information becomes exceptionally useful for marketing firms. They can utilize a few of pieces of information and fill out the puzzle. With the help of such information, we can eventually find more vital information such as the phone numbers, addresses and if necessary, other personal information. In fact, the accuracy of this information is high as the result of this rational and statistical approach.

So, although ZIP codes seem to be an anonymous piece of information, they are a vital piece of information for building a customer profile for marketing purposes.